Environmental change and rural livelihoods in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720192/v1

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Environmental change and rural livelihoods in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720192/v1

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The High Atlas Mountains of Morocco are recognized as global hotspot for rapid environmental change, but there is limited information about how communities and households are responding to these changes. Rural livelihoods that are dependent on agriculture are highly vulnerable to intensifying climate extremes, especially when these stressors intersect with long-term socioeconomic trends including out-migration to urban centers. In 2022–2023, we carried out a household surveys and focus group discussions to understand the evolution of livelihood strategies in four Amazigh villages in Imegdal Commune in the western High Atlas. Results suggest that water shortages are causing cropping systems to simplify as households stop planting some crop species and reduce the area planted to others. Households are also reducing livestock numbers in response to the current multi-year drought and reductions in labor availability created by migration. Other natural resource-based activities, including beekeeping and collecting wild herbs, are being abandoned. This study suggests that decreasing precipitation is rapidly undermining the viability of agricultural activities in the High Atlas. In the absence of viable adaptation strategies, this could lead to a profound restructuring of rural livelihoods across the region.

Climate Change

Water Resources

Migration

Cropping Systems

High Atlas Mountains

Morocco

The High Atlas Mountains are the highest mountain range in north Africa and are a hotspot for biodiversity (Medail 2008, Myers et al. 2000) and climate change (Jarlan et al. 2015, Simoneaux et al. 2015). This study looks at changing livelihoods in four villages in the western High Atlas. Given the intensity of climate change in the region, it is important to understand how it is shaping livelihood strategies in the region, in combination with other factors. Due to the complex combination of different activities in household strategies and intersections in the effects of climate and socioeconomic change, a livelihood approach provides a useful way to look at the impacts of change on households and communities.

Livelihood frameworks have been described as a way to develop participatory, bottom-up methodologies that allow integrated analysis of dynamic rural contexts (Scoones 2009) and have been widely applied in development policy and studies (Haan 2012). According to Scoones (1998), “A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living.” Early formulations of livelihood strategies discussed how they are shaped by five types of capital: natural, human, cultural, produced, and social (Bebbingon 1999). Later scholars have criticized the focus on primarily material aspects of livelihoods; Carr (2019) described livelihoods as “manifestations of socio-ecological projects, binding environmental management, identity-related roles and responsibilities, and local understandings of appropriate actions to one another, defining appropriate ways of living in particular places.” Other scholars have emphasized both local peoples’ agency and the importance of structural factors in rural peoples’ livelihood choices (Batterbury 2001, Turner 2012). Livelihood studies have focused on livelihood diversification strategies as an important part of sustainable livelihood strategies in the context of change (Turner 2012) and as a manifestation of the impacts of globalization on agriculture (Zimmerer 2007). The importance of land tenure, labor, and household structure in shaping livelihood choices has also been discussed (Zinda and Zhang 2018).

Ongoing climate change can affect the viability of rural livelihoods, increase the vulnerability of communities, and disrupt existing livelihood patterns and strategies (Hunter et al. 2015, Entwisle et al. 2017). Households and communities adapt to environmental change using both on-farm and off-farm strategies. On-farm strategies include the use of agrobiodiversity to manage risk; this includes crop species diversity and diverse cropping practices (Ballasteros & Isaza 2021) and the maintenance and shifting of varietal diversity (Ruggieri et al. 2021). In agropastoral and pastoral communities, climate change can be one factor leading to shifts in reliance on livestock and farming (Ayantunde et al. 2011, Berhanu et al. 2007). Off-farm strategies for coping with climate change impacts include local work and migration. Migration is a “long-standing form of environmental adaptation” (Hunter et al. 2015), although it can be pursued for both survival and accumulation (Batterbury 2001, Bebbington 1999). Environmental change interacts with sociocultural change and political factors in shaping migration patterns from subsistence communities (Hunter et al. 2015, Morrissey 2013).

Livelihood perspectives can provide important insight into how communities respond to environmental change and how environmental change interacts with other drivers of change in shaping livelihood decisions. Communities who directly observe changes in their environment can make important contributions to understanding the specificity and complexity of climate change impacts (Savo et al. 2016, Chanza & Musakwa 2022, Miara et al. 2022), thereby providing valuable insights for the development of natural resource governance and adaptation strategies (Savo et al. 2016, Reyes-Garcia et al. 2016). In this study, we utilize farmers descriptions of changing practices to illuminate the intersecting impacts of drought, migration, and sociocultural change.

Mountain regions are important reservoirs for global water resources (Chaponniere et al. 2007) and conserve substantial agrobiodiversity (Zimmerer et al. 2017). Mountain regions are strongly affected by changing climatic conditions, and impacts on steep-slope agriculture can have major implications for local food systems and livelihoods (Wang et al. 2022). Mountain regions are also important sites for indigenous and local knowledge about land management; this knowledge is threatened by changing climates (Wang et al. 2022). Even minor environmental changes in such systems can affect livelihoods and environmental stability, while increasing risk and conflict, especially for the most vulnerable, and disrupting the social stability of communities (Savo et al. 2016). Moreover, rural-urban migration has complex effects in mountain communities due to the interplay between labor availability and agricultural change (Hussain et al. 2016). Given all of these factors, it is especially urgent to understand how livelihoods in mountain communities are responding to climate change and other intersecting drivers of change.

The High Atlas Mountains are located in the Mediterranean region, where the climate is characterized by hot and dry summers, which are periods of water stress (Medail 2008; Jarlan et al. 2015). The region has high interannual and spatio-temporal variability in timing and amount of precipitation (Medail 2008; Jarlan et al. 2015; Zkhiri et al. 2018). Several models have predicted the most extreme global impacts of climate change to occur in the Mediterranean region. Mountain regions are the most vulnerable due to both the extremity of climate change impacts and local communities’ reliance on natural resources (Schilling et al. 2012, Medail 2008). In the High Atlas region, climate change can interact with land use changes (such as overgrazing or terrace abandonment) to amplify soil erosion and desertification (Simoneaux et al. 2015, Lal 2012, Ougougdal et al. 2020). Intensifying summer droughts and trends of decreasing precipitation already present a major challenge across Morocco, and climate projections predict intensification of these patterns (Zkhiri et al. 2018, Schilling et al. 2012). Definitions of drought can be meteorological (a prolonged period with low precipitation), agricultural (a period with insufficient water for agriculture), or hydrological (a period with water resources such as stream flows or lake levels significantly below the statistical average; Sivakumar et al. 2005). Schilling et al. (2012) identify Morocco as the most climate vulnerable state in North Africa, due to high exposure to climate risks and low adaptive capacity. The High Atlas Mountains are especially vulnerable to these changes, due the reliance on agriculture and the lack of alternative economic activities (Paris & Funnell 1999).

The High Atlas region is home to indigenous Amazigh communities. As in much of rural Morocco, pastoralism and crop cultivation are integrated in High Atlas agricultural systems (Montanari 2013, Barrow and Hicham 2000). Irrigated terraced agroecosystems contain cereals, legumes, vegetables and trees; these are combined with rainfed production of cereals and pastoralism (Bencherifa 1983, Soldal et al. 2023). Transhumance (the practice of seasonally moving livestock between different locations; Ayantunde et al. 2011) is still common, although the mobility of herds and the productivity of rangelands has decreased as a result of drought and socioeconomic change (El Aayadi et al. 2021). Agroforestry is important across the region; nut trees are planted in irrigated terraces (Montanari 2013) and “trees parks” are utilized in some areas, with low density tree groves combined with annual crops (Taibi et al. 2019). Honey production is also a significant economic activity in the High Atlas, although its prevalence has reduced due to disease and dry weather (Gault & Saidi 2016). Wild leafy vegetables are an important part of diets (Powell et al. 2014), and the collection of wild medicinal plants is an important economic activity in some areas (Ouarghidi et al. 2017). The sustainability of High Atlas agricultural systems is supported by social controls and collective land management to prevent overgrazing (Barrow and Hicham 2000, Dominguez et al. 2012). Exchanges are important for mitigating hardships, and collective agricultural activities are important for group cohesion (Parish & Funnell 1999, Montanari 2013). Despite literature on these different components of High Atlas livelihoods, there is little work on how different activities fit together in contemporary High Atlas livelihoods.

Because of the complexity and inter-linkage among different parts of High Atlas systems, change can have complex and wide-reaching effects as pressure in one part of systems affects others (Parish & Funnell 1999). Livelihood strategies involve diverse, seasonally varying activities across different altitudes, making the impacts of environmental and socioeconomic change far-reaching (Barrow and Hicham 2000). Many High Atlas communities have been recently and rapidly integrated into markets (Goldberg et al. 2021), and social change combined with decreases in precipitation are leading to the loss of agrobiodiversity and local agricultural knowledge (Soldal et al. 2023). Recent trends have led to increasing migration of young adults to urban areas; this disrupts local ecological knowledge and labor exchange practices (Soldal et al. 2023, Parish & Funnell 1999). Policies and programs have promoted the transition to commercial fruit tree production in some parts of the High Atlas, with ecological and cultural implications (Soldal et al. 2023, Goldberg 2022). National agricultural policy, including the Green Morocco Plan, has focused on maximizing production through modernization of agriculture. These approaches may not be suitable in much of the High Atlas, where they have potential to increase the severity of drought impacts and lead to unsustainable exploitation of water resources (Schilling et al. 2012). National approaches to rural development have also led to restrictions on community access to uncultivated “forest” land, and the promotion of individual exploitation of resources, which has disrupted community structures (El Jihad 2016).

Recent literature has discussed the impacts of climate change and socioeconomic change on specific aspects of High Atlas systems; for example, Soldal et al. (2023) describe how social change combined with decreasing precipitation is contributing to the loss of biocultural knowledge in the High Atlas, and El Aayadi et al. (2021) describe how droughts and national agricultural policy have contributed to deterioration of grazing land quality, contributing to decreased livestock mobility and livestock numbers. However, there is a lack of recent work that considers how climate change combined with socioeconomic change is shaping all aspects of livelihoods, and how changes in different parts of livelihoods fit together in household livelihood strategies. Understanding past responses to change is an important starting point for predicting impacts and designing adaptation strategies for future changes (Parish & Funnell 1999).

This paper characterizes changing livelihoods in four villages in the western High Atlas in the context of the current multi-year drought. Climate change projections suggest that drought is the ‘new normal’ in the High Atlas, making it important to look at how communities are currently responding to drought. Based on field work in 2022-2023, we consider how environmental change has impacted households and communities in these villages across differences in resource endowments and livelihood strategies, providing information that can be used as an analogue to understand possible future impacts across the High Atlas region.

Site Description

Research was carried out in Imegdal Commune, a rural commune¹ in the Al Haouz province of Morocco. Imegdal is located 75 kilometers south of Marrakech and is bordered to the east by Asni, to the west by Anougal, and to the south by Ijoukak. The commune covers 278 km² and contains 27 villages, with 1,156 dwellings housing 5,537 people at elevations ranging from 900 to 2500 m (HCP 2014). Imegdal residents are ethnically Amazigh and speak Tashelhit as a first language. Some speak Moroccan Arabic (Darija) as a second language. Imegdal has a Mediterranean climate with cold, comparatively wet winters contrasting to dry and hot summers with an average annual precipitation of 266 mm (HCP 2014).

Four villages were selected for inclusion in this study based on differing access to water and differences in cropping patterns: Aguerd, Ourti, Ait Hssein / Tawrirt, and Izilal. All villages are accessible by dirt roads, which were completed 10-20 years ago. Aguerd is located 12 km from the main paved road that passes through the center of Imegdal Commune, and Ourti is located 14 km from the same road. Ait Hssein/Tawrirt and Izilal are not accessible by road to the center of Imegdal Commune, and are located approximately 20 km by dirt road from the market town of Amizmiz. Ait/Hssein and Tawrirt share the same water resources and land, and are therefore treated as a single village for the purposes of our analysis.

All homes had electricity and gas stoves at the time of the survey. All villages except for Aguerd had running water in homes. Irrigation is supplied from two main streams (fed by high elevation springs) in Ourti, by two main streams in Ait Hssein/Tawrirt, and by one main stream in Izilal. In Aguerd, irrigated fields are supported by several springs of varied sizes, some of which are frequently dry. Villages included in this study are not representative of the High Atlas region, but this study provides a framework for understanding the imapcts of change on multidimensional livelihoods in the High Atlas.

Field work was carried out between October 2022 – January 2023 and during May 2023. Methods included a household survey, focus groups, key informant interviews, and a survey about fertility management. All research activities were carried out with prior informed consent of survey participants.

We developed a structured survey to characterize High Atlas livelihoods and completed it with 83 households (69 with land, 14 without land). Households were generally defined as groups of people who shared the same land, home, and livestock; Crawford (2008) describes households as “clearly demarcated economic associations” that are central to labor in the High Atlas. In these villages, all agriculturally active households who were available and willing to be surveyed were included, with a simplified version of the survey conducted with households who had only livestock and no crops. Households that had no livestock and no land were excluded. Some households declined to participate in the survey or were travelling at the time of the field work and could not be reached. Table 1 shows the number of households surveyed in each village.

Table 1. Households surveyed.

Village	Households surveyed with crops	Households surveyed no crops	Total Households Surveyed	Households not surveyed – no crops or livestock	Households not surveyed (absent or unwilling)	Total Households
Aguerd	37	8	45	9	9	63
Ourti	14	4	18	5	1	24
Ait Hussein / Tawrirt	12	2	14	1	2	17
Izilal	6	0	6	0	0	6

The survey aimed to characterize household livelihoods strategies, with a particular emphasis on changes to agricultural activities in response to environmental and socioeconomic factors. It contained a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions, including sections about: labor and income; land and irrigation; inputs (fertilizers, manure, and pesticides); livestock, grazing, and fodder; other agricultural activities (collecting wild herbs, beekeeping, and collecting edible wild greens); and a crop information chart with questions about all crops cultivated. In all sections, farmers were asked to estimate changes between the time of the survey and 10 years prior or, alternatively, the period before water limitations for agriculture were perceived to become severe. This wording was used as many farmers did not have clear recollections of years. The survey focused on farmers’ perception of drought because this was consistently emphasized by farmers to be the most important factor affecting their agricultural practices. When farmers described drought periods, they were referring to times when there was little to no precipitation compared to what they remembered as the recent historical norms. From a practical perspectives, these perceptions correspond to periods when there has been insufficient irrigation or rainfall to maintain crops and livestock.

All field work was completed with a research assistant from Aguerd, who assisted with communication in Tashelhit. Some informants completed the survey in Darija.² The survey was completed with the head of the household, or the individual most knowledgeable about the household’s agricultural practices. Most interviewees were men, but women completed the survey if they were the head of the household or their husband was unable to complete the survey, typically due to working outside the village. Sometimes a son completed the survey if he was most knowledgeable or available. In Aguerd, a small number of survey questions were not asked to all households because the survey was slightly modified after the first surveys were completed. When not all households were asked a question, we include the number of households that answered the question when giving results.

Four focus groups were conducted (one in each village) with groups of four to ten male farmers of varied ages. Focus groups focused on community water management and more general discussions about livelihood challenges and changes at the village level. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were completed with women, in groups of one to four. These interviews focused on perceptions of climate change impacts, changes in social systems and reciprocity, and labor. Men and women were interviewed separately due to gender norms in the region of study and knowledge about different elements of livelihoods. Focus groups and interviews were transcribed and analyzed by theme.

In households surveyed, livelihoods depend on four major categories of activities: cropping in irrigated terraces, with a small amount of rainfed agriculture; livestock systems that include goat herds, with some households practicing transhumance (i.e., seasonal movement of herds between lowland rangelands in winter and high elevation rangelands in summer), and cows and sheep that are kept at homes; other natural resource-based activities, including collecting wild herbs for sale and beekeeping; and off-farm activities, primarily migration of young men who send remittances. We present survey results, focus groups, and interviews in the following sections: family structures and income sources, land, cropping systems, livestock systems, soil fertility management, and household livelihood strategies. Through these sections, we describe all components of livelihoods and how they are being impacted by change.

1.Family structures and income sources

The estimated ages of individuals surveyed ranged from 25-86, with an average age of 52 years. The survey included information about migration history of all family members, including those who had left the community. Twenty-five percent of the households surveyed had heads of household who were currently working or had worked in the past outside the village. All but four surveyed households had children, ranging in age from less than one to 60 years. Households with children had, on average, 4.25 children. Of these children, an average of 1.4 were living in the same house, 0.4 were living in a different household in the same village, and 2.6 were living outside the village, of which 1.2 were male children working in urban areas (others were women who had married outside the village but were not likely to be sending remittances). Across all villages, 77% of households had at least one family member working outside the village (and thus a likely source of remittances). More detail can be found in Supplementary Information Figure 1.

All households relied primarily on agriculture, livestock, and/or remittances for income. Of households surveyed, 49% relied on primarily agriculture and livestock, 25% relied on primarily remittances, and 24% relied on a combination of agriculture/livestock and remittances (detail by village in Supplementary Information Figure 2). One household in Ait Hssein had no source of income from agriculture or remittances and relied entirely on support from other community members. Some households had other sources of income, such as driving the community transportation or a small store, but these provided only a small proportion of total income. Across all communities, few household heads had any formal education, few household members had studied beyond 6^th grade, and 13 households in total had children who had studied beyond middle school. All villages included in this study have primary schools nearby, but students must leave the village to attend middle or high school.

2. Land

Agriculture in these villages is dominated by irrigated terraces, with some households planting rainfed land. Terraces are irrigated using seguias (irrigation channels), which are made of cement or soil, and water distribution is managed on the community level. Terraced fields vary greatly in size and shape. The dry-stone terrace walls require regular maintenance, and this is usually done by individual families, sometimes with the help of paid laborers; cooperation was mentioned to be common in the past.

All land-owning households surveyed owned irrigated land, except for one in Aguerd who owned only rainfed land. Land holdings are small (all less than ½ hectare) and highly variable by household in most villages (more details in Supplementary Information, Figure 3). In Aguerd, irrigated land is scattered at different locations at varying distances from the village, with numerous different water sources. In Ourti, Ait Hssein / Tawrirt, and Izilal, irrigated land is located in 1-2 main valleys below the villages, with 1-2 larger springs or streams providing irrigation water.

Rainfed land is also cultivated by some farmers. In Aguerd, 32% of households planted rainfed land in 2021-2022. Some households had rainfed land but had stopped planting it because drought made harvests unreliable, and others stopped due to government restrictions on planting government owned “forest” lands, managed by the national water and forest service (Agence Nationale des Eaux et Forêts). Rainfed land in Aguerd is located in scattered locations at varying distances from the village. In Ourti, all households used to plant rainfed land but stopped 10 years ago due to government restrictions. All rainfed land in Ourti is located on a slope of the mountain Gurza, several kilometers uphill from the village. Thirty-six percent of households started planting their rainfed land again in 2022; others did not start due to a combination of limited labor and drought. In the focus group, community members explained that they started planting rainfed land again after seeing an announcement by the king on television. In Ait Hussein / Tawrirt, there is limited rainfed land available and 21% of households reported small amounts of rainfed land, located near the town or on the edges of areas with irrigated land. In Izilal there is no rainfed land.

Land is inherited and is split between sons and daughters, with daughters inheriting less land than sons (see Crawford 2013 for detailed discussion of how property inheritance reflects patrilineage). When family members move outside the village, they generally give away their land to a family member who still lives in the village. Over time, this combined with unequal numbers of children across households has led to highly variable patterns of land ownership. A few farmers reported buying small amounts of land. Some farmers plant land through a system called sharakaor khams, where a farmer plants land owned by another household, and the harvest is shared.

Land can be cropped in both the summer and winter, depending on water availability. Precipitation is primarily in the winter, and summer cultivation is dependent on irrigation from springs and rivrs, provided by winter snowfall. When the survey was completed in 2022, all farmers reported planting all of their irrigated terraces in all recent winter cropping seasons. Some farmers mentioned small amounts of irrigated land that have become unirrigated and are no longer planted. In May 2023, many households, especially in Aguerd, reported leaving terraces unplanted the previous winter due to one of the driest winters on record. This was the first time they remembered leaving terraces unplanted in the winter. In the past, all irrigated fields were cropped in both the winter and summer. Due to decreasing water availability, in all villages there has been a reduction in summer cropping area. In the most extreme case, Aguerd, only a few farmers plant any summer crops, and they do so on only a few of their total fields. In the villages with the most reliable water resources, Ait Hussein / Tawrirt and Ourti, all terraces are planted in years when there is good rainfall, and approximately 50% are planted in dry years. In Izilal, farmers reported that approximately ¼ of irrigated land is planted in drought years.

3. Crops

Table 2. summarizes the crops planted in the four villages in this study. All crops are planted in irrigated terraces, except for barley, almond, and fig trees which can be planted in both irrigated terraces and on rainfed land. Terraces are cropped twice a year when there is enough water, and farmers rotate crops.When there is sufficient water, fields with barley are planted with maize or vegetable safter the barley is harvested. Potatoes are cropped twice a year, and then replaced by the early palnting of barley for fodder (agulas); the location is rotated. Perennial crops and winter legume crops are planted on limited areas, and the locations are rotated with barley and maize / vegetables.

The household survey showed that households are widely decreasing the diversity of crops planted due to water shortages, especially during the summer cropping season when all crops depend on irrigation. Cropping practices and changes are described for individual crops.

Table 2: Crops planted in villages surveyed.

Crop	Season	Main uses	Villages
Barley (Hordeum vulgare)	Winter and fall (2 plantings)	Fodder, seed	All
Maize (Zea mays)	Summer	Grain, fodder	All; mostly abandoned in Aguerd and Izilal
Potato (Solanum tuberosum)	Summer and Spring (2 plantings in August and March)	Subsistence, cash (mostly in past)	All; few households still plant in Aguerd
Onion(Allium cepa)	Summer	Subsistence	All; few households still plant in Aguerd
Fava Beans (Vicia faba)	Winter	Subsistence	All; few households still plant in Aguerd
Peas (Pisum sativum)	Winter	Subsistence	All; few households still plant in Aguerd
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)	Perennial	Fodder	All
Berseem Clover (Trifolium alexandrinum)	Winter	Fodder	All
Carrot (Daucus carota)	Summer	Subsistence	All, Aguerd only in past
Turnip (Brassica rapasubsp. rapa)	Summer	Subsistence	All, Aguerd only in past
Squash (Cucurbita pepoand Cucurbita ssp.)	Summer	Subsistence	All
Eggplant (Solanum melongena)	Summer	Subsistence	All
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	Summer	Subsistence	All
Pepper (Capsicum annuum)	Summer	Subsistence	All
Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)	Summer	Subsistence	All
Winter melon (Benincasa hispida)	Summer	Subsistence	All; only 1 household in Ourti
Almond (Prunus dulcis)	Tree	Cash	All
Walnut (Juglans regia)	Tree	Cash	All
Fig (Ficus carica)	Tree	Subsistence	All
Apple (Malus domestica)	Tree	Cash or unproductive	All but Aguerd, where all died
Blue Iris (Iris germanica)	Perennial	Cash	All

Barley

Barley is the primary winter crop. Most farmers plant it twice; they plant a small amount in August in irrigated fields, which is harvested before it fully matures for use as winter fodder (this planting is called agulas). The main planting is at the onset of rains, generally between October and January (most commonly in November or December). It is planted in both irrigated and unirrigated fields. In all villages, barley is used primarily or exclusively for seed and animal fodder; a small amount is used for flour in only a few households. Farmers explained that because they produce a limited amount, it is not worth grinding it into flour; instead, they buy wheat flour, and feed all of their grain to their livestock, leaving only enough for seed.

Most households (77%; 34/44) save their own barley seed. Others buy seed from local markets; most reported saving their own seeds in the past and beginning to buy when droughts became severe. Farmers said that the seeds they buy from markets are the same variety as locally saved seeds, and that all farmers plant the same bldi (local) variety. Most households reported much higher yields before drought. Some have decreased the area planted by abandoning rainfed or unirrigated land. In winter 2022-2023, many farmers left some of their fields fallow and a few did not plant barley at all, due to the very late onset of rains. Barley in many areas failed to produce grain due to terminal heat stress in spring 2023. This was the worst harvest that farmers remembered.

Maize

Maize is a summer grain crop. It is used in several dishes, and it is also an important fodder crop. In Aguerd and Izilal, no households planted maize in 2022 due to insufficient water. Most households planted maize in the past and stopped 3-20 years ago. In other villages, 92% of households planted maize in 2022, but many planted less than in the past. All households except for one in Ourti saved their own seeds. There are two varieties, white and red. The white variety does better at higher elevations, and it is the only variety planted in Ourti and Ait Hussein / Tawrirt. In Aguerd, people planted both white and red varieties in the past. (More details in Supplementary Information Figure 4).

Vegetables:

Potato:Potato is an important subsistence crop, and it used to be an important cash crop for many households. It is planted twice per year, in August and in March. In Aguerd, 58% (21/36) of households stopped planting potatoes due to drought, as did 17% (1/6) in Izilal. All households who still plant potatoes in Aguerd and Izilal have reduced the amount planted. All households in Ait Hssein / Tawrirt and Ourti plant potatoes, but 50% have reduced the amount planted. Farmers across all villages reported decreases in yield due to drought. Many households went from being self-sufficient in potatoes and selling extra, to having to buy some potatoes for their household; only six households reported that they still produce enough potatoes to last the year. Most households buy potato for seed once a year in local markets (in August) and use their own seed for the second planting in March. There are different potato varieties available in markets, and price is an important factor in selection. Some farmers expressed a lack of reliability in seed quality. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 5).

Onion:Onion is also an important crop for subsistence. Sixteen percent of households in Aguerd planted onions in 2022, and 62% stopped planting them due to drought. In other villages, 88% of households planted onions in 2022, but many decreased the amount planted or stopped selling. Saving seed for onions was common in the past, but few households have saved their own seeds in recent years. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 6).

Other Vegetables:Several other vegetables are planted during the summer in Imegdal Commune: squash, winter melon, eggplant, tomato, pepper, beans, carrots, and turnips. Vegetable production has decreased in all villages. In Aguerd, only 10% of households planted any vegetables in 2022, while 59% planted them in the past. In other villages, most households still plant some vegetables but have decreased the area and diversity of vegetables planted. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 7).

Fava beans and Peas

Fava beans and peas are planted on small sections of land in the winter. In Aguerd, 22% of households planted fava beans and peas in 2022, and an additional 54% planted them in the past. In other villages, 88% of households still plant fava beans and / or peas, but many have decreased the amount planted. Most households buy seeds from markets, but many used to save their own seeds and some still do. Two different varieties of fava beans, both bldi, can be purchased from markets. Traditional and modern varieties of peas can be purchased from markets. A black variety of fava beans was planted in the past but has been abandoned because it requires more water. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 8).

Other Fodder Crops

In all villages, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is planted as a perennial fodder crop, and berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) is planted as a winter fodder crop. Forty-two percent of all households had alfalfa in their fields in 2022, and 55% planted berseem clover. Several households stopped planting either or both due to insufficient water. In Ourti, some farmers mentioned that they prioritize these crops for water resources due to their importance for livestock. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 9).

Tree Crops

Walnut and Almond:Tree crops form an important part of High Atlas systems. Walnut and almond trees are the primary tree crops in all villages surveyed and are the most important crops for income. Walnut trees are planted on the edges of irrigated fields with reliable irrigation, or they are planted along streambeds, where they are not actively irrigated. Almond trees require less water than walnut trees and are planted on the borders of fields with less reliable irrigation, and in rainfed fields. In higher elevation villages, almond trees often experience freezing at flowering time, and all villages surveyed except for Aguerd are on the upper edge of their limit; these villages experience frequent failed harvests. All walnut trees and most almond trees are of a traditional variety (bldi). In Ait Hssein/Tawrirt and Izilal, some almond trees are of a modern variety (romi).

Farmers sell walnuts and almonds in local markets, and many expressed that the price they are able to earn is not fair, but they lack alternative markets. Prices fluctuate significantly for walnut, and households who can afford to do so often keep them until prices rise. In Ourti and several nearby villages, small walnut trees are also planted in fields with the intent to be sold as young trees at a market where they used to be purchased for planting in another region of Morocco. Most households in Ourti still have at least one plot planted with small walnut trees but have not been able to sell them for several years because the region where they were being planted has reduced purchases due to drought.

In all villages, the number of walnut and almond trees has decreased dramatically due to tree death. In Aguerd, the most extreme case, approximately 83% of walnut and almond trees were estimated to have died in the last 10-20 years, and farmers described drought as the primary cause for the death of trees. In the last year alone, approximately 59% of remaining walnut and almond trees died. In other villages, approximately 26% of walnut trees and 34% of almond trees were estimated to have died in the previous 2-3 years . A significant number of trees were not reported to have died from drought before then. (Details in Supplementary Information Figures 10 and 11).

Fig and other:In all villages, most households have a few fig trees. Fig trees are more drought tolerant than other tree crops, but they are not prioritized because the figs are not sold. In lower elevation villages in Imegdal (none of which are discussed in this paper), olive and carob trees are also common. In Aguerd, there are a few olive and carob trees, but they produce little.

Apple:In all villages, apple trees have been introduced with limited success in the last 10 years. In Aguerd, some households planted apple trees that were brought by an NGO. Many households had their trees die due to lack of water, and others took them out. There is one household who never took out their apple trees, but they have migrated out of the village and were not surveyed. In Ourti, 57% of households planted apple trees. Some trees died from drought, and all but one removed their trees in approximately 2019. One household described this decision due to marketing challenges and the high cost of inputs; even when they tried to sell apples, they could not get back the cost of expenses from planting. The one household who kept some apple trees does not try to sell the apples. In Izilal, two households planted large numbers of apple trees, but all died. Three households currently have apple trees (10 to 20). Two of these households have only small trees, and the third household sometimes sells apples. In Ait Hussein/Tawrirt, seven households have apple trees; some got them from an NGO, and some bought them from the market. None have sold them because they do not produce much fruit.

Other Crops

Blue iris is planted as a cash crop; the root is sold in local markets. It is commonly planted on the edges of fields. Yields have been heavily affected by drought. Across all villages, 30% stopped planting blue iris, 31% still have plants in their fields but haven’t sold it recently, and 7% have recently sold the root.

Some farmers mentioned having planted rye and bread wheat in the past, and some farmers in Imegdal Commune still have seeds of a local variety of rye. In Aguerd, lentils were planted one to two generations ago as a rainfed crop. People stopped planting wheat and lentils due to decreasing rains. Rye was abandoned by many households due to decreasing grain production in general, lack of seed, and because it is perceived to be lower quality fodder than barley. At the time of the survey, one household in Aguerd had planted rye to redistribute seeds. Farmers in Ourti mentioned that they used to have apricot and peach trees that have died due to drought.

Mint and other herbs for tea are also planted by most households. Some plant a small amount in fields, and others plant them in pots at home.

4. Livestock Systems

Livestock systems consist of small numbers of cows or sheep, goat herds, and mules and donkeys for labor.

Cows and Sheep:Cows and sheep are kept in the bottom floor of the home or in a shelter near the home. They are primarily stable fed and are taken out to graze nearby by some households in some villages, usually around the household’s terraced fields. Cows are important as a source of milk for families’ subsistence. Sheep and cows are both an important source of cash. Of households surveyed, 68% of households have at least one cow. Many households also have a calf, and some households in Ait Hssein / Tawrirt and Izilal have two cows. Seventy-seven percent of households in all villages have sheep. Households have one to nine sheep, and one household has a herd of 30 sheep (which were grazed along with the household’s herd of goats).

In all villages, survey results showed an overall reduction in the number of households with cows and sheep, as well as the number of animals per household. Nineteen percent of households across all villages used to have cows and no longer do, and 9% of households used to have sheep but no longer do. Of households with cows, 23% have reduced the number and of households with sheep, 28% have reduced the number. Drought, livestock disease, health/old age, and labor were all mentioned as reasons for reducing numbers of cows and sheep. In the past, many families had larger herds of sheep that grazed in areas further from the village.

Grazing restrictions (azzayn), which vary between villages and are determined by the community assembly (jamaa), limit or prohibit grazing of cows and sheep around the village. In Aguerd and Ourti, cows are prohibited from grazing and are only stable fed. In focus groups, farmers described that grazing restrictions were implemented because cows often damage crops and trees. Grazing restrictions in Aguerd also prohibit grazing of sheep, but many households still graze their sheep. In Ourti, sheep are prohibited from grazing only in some areas of fields. In Ait Hussein / Tawrirt and Izilal, both cows and sheep are still permitted to graze in all areas; this probably explains why some households in these villages have more than one cow.

Goats:Goats are almost always kept in herds and graze on rangelands further from the village. This requires a male family member to graze as a full-time occupation, or several male family members to alternate grazing responsibilities. Some households cooperate, combining their goats into a single herd and alternating grazing responsibilities. Twenty-eight percent of households, mostly in Aguerd and Ourti, practice transhumance; goats are kept in locations far from the village (azib)for at least part of the year, and the goats’ location changes in the winter and summer.

In the past, transhumance was much more common, although no farmers recalled the use of an agdal in any of the villages (agdal is a form of communal grazeland management in the High Atlas whereby seasonal grazing restrictions allow regeneration; see Dominguez 2012). Several households described shifting their use of azibs due to changes in rainfall: when there is not enough snow and rain, it no longer makes sense to use the winter azib (which is located at lower elevations). Farmers in Izilal explained: “There used to be a lot of snow here, a meter and a half would fall and people would go down [with the livestock]. Now, there isn’t a lot of snow, and people just keep the livestock here.” Farmers in Izilal also mentioned migration as a reason for decreasing the use of azibs, and the decrease in goat herding in general– they described how all of the children grow up and go to the city, leaving fewer men to graze. However, they emphasized that drought is the main reason that livestock numbers have decreased. In Ait Hssein / Tawrirt, farmers also explained that people just prefer not to go to azibs anymore.

Across all villages, 40% of households have goat herds (36% in Aguerd, 33% in Ourti, 42% in Ait Hssein, and 83% in Izilal). The majority of these households have decreased their herd numbers. Twenty-four percent of households used to have goat herds, and no longer do. Drought and labor availability (for which migration patterns are important) were cited as the most important factors in decisions to decrease herd numbers. Many farmers described increases in disease and decreases in reproduction during times of drought. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 13).

Other livestock:Sixty-nine percent of households have a donkey (45%) or mule (24%), which are important for agricultural power (i.e., plowing, transporting fodder, and harvest). They are also used as transportation; each village has a public transportation vehicle that runs less than once a day, and donkeys / mules are still frequently used to reach markets and main roads. Most households have chickens, but many described losing large number of chickens due to a disease in 2021-2022. Two households have rabbits, and others had them in the past. (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 14).

Fodder:

There are five sources of fodder:

Grazing: This is the main fodder source for goats, and its importance for cows and sheep varies based on grazing restrictions.
Fodder crops: The fodder crops produced in these villages are barley (grain and hay used for fodder), maize (vegetation used for fodder), alfalfa, and berseem clover.
Grass and weeds from fields and borders of fields: Women collect fodder from fields. This is somewhat interchangeable with grazing near the village - in villages with grazing restrictions, fodder is collected rather than eaten directly by livestock.
Fodder purchased: 90% of households buy some fodder from markets, in the form of barley grain, hay, bran, and prepared feeds. Most households reported an increase in fodder purchased since droughts became severe, and many did not buy any fodder previously. (Further detail in Supplemental Information Section 15).
Wild fodder plants: Several different plants are collected from non-cultivated areas. Ninety-eight percent of households surveyed collect wild fodder plants, generally once or twice per week. Fodder plants collected include oak (Quercus ilex), awri (Stipa tenacissima), tawrsht (Stipa nitens), azmai (Juncus acutus),and tiqi (Juniperus oxycedrus). Men or women may collect fodder plants, and they often walk long distances (up to four to six hours to reach collecting sites). (Further detail in Supplemental Information Section 15).

Livestock plans and perceptions of change:

When asked if they intend to increase livestock numbers, no households expressed clear plans to increase their number of livestock. Many said they would like to, but do not have enough money or are worried about being able to feed them. Some also mentioned age, health, or the amount of labor required as reasons for not wanting to increase. Many farmers emphasized that drought is the main reason behind changes in livestock numbers; farmers expressed that people do not want to decrease their livestock numbers, but drought causes increased livestock death and forces households to sell livestock when they cannot provide enough fodder. Some farmers expressed that they would like to have more livestock, but do not expect to be able to increase numbers because of drought. One farmer in Aguerd expressed that many people who still have livestock rely on their children who send money, because livestock are no longer a viable source of income:

The goats are just decoration. The livestock, all of them – cows, sheep, and goats – have become like decoration. Those that still have them, [it is because] they just cannot separate themselves from them. But they will only be bothered by them, they no longer get anything [income] out of them. The fodder now must be bought from the market.

In focus groups, farmers described major changes in the quality of rangelands, which they attributed to drought. Farmers described the most notable changes beginning around the 1990s - 2000. In Aguerd and Ourti, farmers described how they used to bring large amounts of grass from the forest to feed livestock:

The productivity [of rangelands] has changed. There is no grass left. We used to dry it and store it, and we had a lot of hay. Not now, everything is bought from the market. Alfalfa is disappearing because of the drought. People used to bring a large amount of grass. It was in the forest, around the irrigation canals, wherever you went there was a lot of grass… there is a plant that used to be common in the forest, tawrsht, but it has disappeared now because of the drought… that is why people sell their livestock.

5. Inputs for agricultural productivity

Manure:Manure is generally applied before the planting of each crop, but many farmers reported decreasing their application of manure due to drought because they believe that manure “burns” crops when there is insufficient water. This idea was common among farmers when discussing both manure and mineral fertilizers. Labor can also limit manure application. Two households in Aguerd had not applied manure on any fields for many years because there was no male family member available to do it; one of these households was an older woman who planted alone, and the other was a young man who worked in urban areas and returned to Aguerd only for planting and harvesting.

In all villages, manure is shared across households (details in Supplementary Information Figure 16). Households that produce excess manure give it to other households that do not produce enough, with nothing given in return. In all villages except for Ourti, all households reported meeting their needs for manure. This is reflected in the balance of households who give manure, and those that receive it. In Ourti, several households mentioned that they are not able to get enough manure for all of their fields because there are not enough households with excess manure. One household in Ourti reported buying manure from outside the village. Farmers expressed that there is insufficient manure because of decreasing livestock numbers. Compared to other villages, Ourti has a smaller percentage of households with goat herds, and the use of manure may be higher than in other villages due to better access to irrigation water and higher intensity of cultivation. Goats are also kept far from the village for much of the year, making manure inaccessible. When they do not have enough manure, farmers alternate fields and apply manure every other planting.

Mineral fertilizers and pesticides:In Izilal, Ait Hssein/Tawrirt, and Aguerd, few households have ever used mineral fertilizers (details in Supplementary Information Figure 17). In Ourti, 86% of households used chemical fertilizers in the recent past but stopped because of cost (the price of fertilizers has risen dramatically in the past few years) and / or drought (mineral fertilizers are seen to require more water than manure, and to be more likely to “burn” plants). Farmers who plant rainfed land continue to use chemical fertilizers there, as it is too far to transport manure.

Perceptions about chemical fertilizers vary. Many farmers in Aguerd, Ait Hussein / Tawrirt, and Izilal expressed ideas that chemical fertilizers damage the soil and make crops less natural. They also emphasized that they have sufficient manure, so they have no reason to use fertilizers. One farmer explained: “There is a lot of manure, why would we use fertilizer? We don’t know which is better, but the manure is here, there is plenty, one isn’t going to buy fertilizer.” In Ourti, many viewed chemical fertilizers to increase yield with no negative effects, but they do not purchase them anymore because they have become too expensive. Farmers in Ourti expressed that they think their soil needs fertilizer to produce a good harvest.

In Ourti, some farmers mentioned using a pesticide (imzri) on vegetables and sometimes on other crops. All households who had attempted to grow apples for sale had used pesticides. One household in Ait Hssein/Tawrirt and two households in Izilal currently use pesticides on apple trees.

6. Other activities

Wild thyme (Thymus satureioides) and lavender (Lavandula maroccana) are collected for sale in many parts of the High Atlas. In Aguerd, there is thyme and lavender in close proximity to the village, but in recent years drought has affected the profitability of collecting it for sale. Forty-four percent of households have sold thyme and / or lavender in the past, but only one household sold thyme in 2022. In Ait Hussein/ Tawrirt and Izilal, 20% of households have sold thyme in the past. These plants do not grow in the area around Ourti. Families who collect these plants sell them to merchants who resell them; they cannot sell them directly in markets because they do not have authorization to collect them from government lands.

Beekeeping was practiced in the past by 41% (33/81) of households, but very few have bees remaining, and those who do have much fewer than they had in the past. All households who stopped keeping bees reported that the bees died from disease or drought. There are two different methods of keeping bees, described as bldiand romi. All who still keep bees have boxes (romi). (Details in Supplementary Information Figure 18.

A number of wild edible plants grow in/around fields or near streams and used to be an important part of diets. However, these plants have decreased in abundance due to drought. The most common plants mentioned were guernounch (Nasturium officinale), wamsa (foeniculum vulgare), tibi (Malva sp.), takourayt (Ficus carica), and tajloujt (Portulaca oleracea). Most households in Aguerd and Ourti and some households in other villages reported collecting these plants in the past but reported that they never or rarely eat these plants anymore due to decreases in abundance (details in Supplementary Information Section 19).

7. Communal Labor

Communal labor exchanges (tiwizi) used to be commonly used for agricultural tasks, including planting, harvesting, plowing, threshing, repairing terraces, and grazing. In all focus groups, farmers expressed that tiwizi is no longer used for these tasks. It is only used for occasional large, community tasks (such as repairing irrigation canals, road repairs, and funerals). It is now common for households to pay others to work for them when they need help. In a focus group in Ourti, farmers described a link between the loss of tiwizi and migration; because tiwizi takes a lot of time, people stopped doing it when it became more common to leave and work in urban areas because people needed to work and pay their expenses and no longer had time to do tiwizi:

We used to harvest with tiwizi, irrigate with tiwizi, bring barley from fields to the threshing place (onrar) with tiwizi, divide fields into sections with tiwizi, thresh with tiwizi… the reason that tiwizi has stopped is because of daily expenses. For example, if I ask for tiwizi today, I will have to go help that person, and then tomorrow I will help another person… I will go around like that and the whole month will pass. The month will pass and how will I pay for the light?

There are still forms of reciprocity that play an important role in community systems. As described above, manure is shared freely across households. Households that grow vegetables also commonly share their harvest with other households, regardless of whether the amount harvested is sufficient for their own consumption.

8. Household Livelihood Strategies

In this section, we illustrate the range of livelihood strategies pursued by individual households through examples of households with differing amounts of land. Survey results suggest that decisions about livestock, migration, and other agricultural activities are complex and only partially interdependent. Still, whether the household has land, and how much land they have, is an important factor in shaping livelihood options. Land is determined through inheritance, and households have very limited options to gain access to additional land. Households with the most land used to be the wealthiest households, but the effects of drought now limit the productivity of cropping systems even for households with large amounts of land. Still, their land gives them more livelihood options. Households who have limited land may compensate by keeping a large number of livestock, or they may rely primarily on remittances while keeping a small number of livestock. There are also some households with no land; these are mostly young couples who have not yet inherited land from their parents and rely on seasonal or permanent labor by the male household head in urban areas.

The household examples below illustrate some of the livelihood possibilities for households based on differing reliance on livestock, migration, and other activities. Some households across all land ownership categories have goat herds, and others do not. Households also vary in whether they have cows, sheep, or both. The extent to which households have access to income from remittances (from either the male household head or a son, or occasionally daughter) is important in shaping livelihood strategies, and in how much income households have; access to remittances is now the only path to relative wealth. Remittances sometimes (but not always) shape households’ decisions about how many livestock to keep. Lack of land or livestock may shape migration decisions.

Household 1 (Aguerd) – large land ownership: The household heads are both in their 50s. They have 4 children, all of whom live outside Aguerd: two sons who are married and work in Mohammedia, and two daughters who are married in other cities. They have 6 abras of land, plus some rainfed land where they have only almond trees. They used to plant the rainfed land but stopped because of government restriction and problems with wild boars (this is a common problem in Aguerd). They plant barley, potato, and berseem clover. When there is enough water, they plant vegetables, but they haven’t planted them for three years. In the past they also planted maize and alfalfa. They have ten walnut trees and no almond trees. In recent years, they have had two walnut trees and 60 almond trees die from drought. They have a cow, a herd of 100 goats, a donkey, and chickens. In the past, they had four cows, six sheep, and a slightly larger goat herd. The male household head grazes the goats every day. They used to have bees that died due to drought. (This household has a fairly large amount of land and a large number of livestock, but the effects of drought on their cropping patterns is significant. They get much of their income through remittances from their sons).
Household 2 (Ourti) – moderate land ownership: The male household head is approximately 65 and the female household head is approximately 60. They have a son that lives in the same household with his wife, another daughter that lives with them, and two sons that have homes and families in Ourti but sometimes work in construction. Their income comes entirely from agriculture. They have three abras of irrigated land, and they plant an additional one abra through sharaka, as well as ten abras of rainfed land; they started planting some of the rainfed land again last year (they did not plant it for many years due to government restriction). They plant barley, potato, blue iris, onion, carrot, beans, squash, alfalfa, and berseem clover. They used to plant additional vegetables. They have 20 walnut trees and six almond trees; in the last five years they had 20 walnut trees and 20 almond trees die due to drought. They used to have nine plots of small walnut trees; they now have three plots left, which they are no longer able to sell. They have one cow, three sheep, and a herd of 100 goats. They had 80 sheep that died or were sold due to drought three years ago, and 100 additional goats that died or were sold due to drought last year. They have two azibs, and the male household head and his son alternate grazing. They used to have bees that died eight years ago. (This household does not have access to income through remittances. They own a moderate amount of land, but plant additional land throughsharakaand plant rainfed land. They have a large number of livestock. Although all of their income comes from agriculture, it is clear that drought is affecting all aspects of their livelihood).
Household 3 (Ait Hssein) – limited land ownership: The male household head is in his late 50s and the female household head is in her 40s. They have eight children, seven of whom live outside the village. Four of their children are studying or recently finished studying, one daughter and one son work in cities, and their youngest son attends primary school in the village. They have 1.5 abras of irrigated land where they plant barley, potatoes, maize, onion, turnip, carrot, and fava beans. They planted alfalfa and berseem clover in the past but stopped three years ago because of drought. They have about 35 walnut trees, with 55 that have died due to drought in the last three years. They had about 20 almond trees but almost all have died due to drought. Both the walnut and almond trees are divided between three siblings. They have two sheep, chickens, and a mule that they plan to sell. They used to have one to two cows and 60-100 goats, but they sold all of them last year because of drought (and likely because they have access to remittances through their children). They used to have 20-25 boxes of bees, which died little by little due to drought, and the last ones died in 2022. (This household used to have a large number of livestock, but they recently sold most of their livestock and now rely on remittances from their children).
Household 4 (Aguerd) – no land ownership: The male household head is 40 and comes and goes from Marrakech, where he works. The female household head is 35. They do not have children. They do not have land because their parents are still alive. They have one cow and chickens. They used to have two sheep but recently sold them. The female household head collects wild thyme to sell when possible, but hasn’t collected it for three years due to drought. (Like most young households without land, this household relies almost entirely on income from the male household head, who works in urban areas).

Changes in cropping systems: area reduction and simplification of crop diversity

Results suggest that drought is contributing to simplification of diverse cropping systems in Imegdal Commune. The most extreme case is Aguerd, where many households now plant only barley and have stopped planting all other crops most years due to insufficient water resources. In other villages, the simplification of cropping systems has been less extreme, but many households have decreased the diversity of vegetable crops planted and have stopped planting or decreased the amount planted of fodder crops and cereal crops. Simplification has occurred mainly during the summer cropping season; the Mediterranean region is characterized by long summer drought periods that vary by year (Jarlan et al. 2013), and patterns of interannual variability are being exacerbated by climate change (Jarlan et al. 2015, Simoneaux et al. 2015). This study found that farmers have stopped planting summer crops and perennial crops due to the intensity of water shortages in the summer.

Farmers described decreases in area cropped during the summer, as well as decreases in yields of crops that they plant during summer and winter cropping seasons. This has impacted crop production for subsistence, fodder, and income. Few households still sell potatoes, almost none sell onions, blue iris production has decreased, and the number and productivity of trees has decreased; drought was described as the main reason for all of these changes. As a result, cropping systems no longer provide a significant amount of direct income. At the same time, households purchase more food and fodder from markets. Because vegetables are not easily accessible in remote High Atlas villages, decreased cultivation of vegetables affects household food security.

Drought has interacted with other drivers of change in changing cropping practices, but it was consistently emphasized by farmers to be the main reason for decreasing area planted in the summer season when all crops must be irrigated to be productive. Because households have limited irrigated land, they plant all of their land when there is enough water. During the winter, all irrigated fields are cropped with barley; winter 2023 was the first exception. The winter cropping cycle on rainfed fields is more complicated. Government restrictions have led to some households abandoning rainfed fields for certain periods of time, and some households are hesitant to plant rainfed land due to concerns of continued government restriction. Planting rainfed fields is a significant labor commitment, and households may choose to abandon rainfed land if male household members have migrated. However, drought is a major reason for reductions in rainfed cultivation, as has been discussed in other parts of the High Atlas; rainfed lands are more susceptible than irrigated lands to abandonment with irregular precipitation (MBLA & GDF 2020).

In all villages, many households have stopped saving their own seeds, and in the past few generations, local varieties of vegetables (especially carrot and turnip) have been replaced with seeds from markets. Although drought is not the primary reason described for these changes (women emphasized the labor required for saving seeds, and changes in preferences), it was mentioned as an important factor for the abandonment of some varieties and crops, such as black fava beans (in irrigated fields), and durum wheat and lentils (in rainfed fields). Winter cereal cropping systems have been simplified to only barley, while rye and wheat were planted in past. Drought is one factor shaping this loss of diversity; farmers also emphasized their preference for barley and the gradual loss of seeds of other crops.

The importance of agrobiodiversity for adaptation to environmental change, especially in marginal environments, is widely recognized (Frison et al. 2011, Sahri et al. 2014, Zimmerer 2010). Agrobiodiversity includes diversity within and across species, as well as other biodiversity associated with agricultural systems. Morocco is a center of diversity for several crops, including durum wheat, barley, figs, and fava beans, and the High Atlas is recognized as an important zone for agrobiodiversity in Morocco (Goldberg et al. 2021, Jensen et al. 2013, Bernis-Fonteneau et al. 2023). Terraced agroecosystems are zones of high diversity, as they combine a diversity of cereal, legume, and tree crops (Boselli et al. 2020, Chakkour et al. 2024).

Goldberg et al. (2021) found that market participation, land holdings, and water access were important determinants of crop diversity maintained by farmers in the High Atlas. Insufficient attention has been paid to the role of water scarcity in loss of diversity in the High Atlas, where diverse local cropping practices are a central component of livelihoods and an important form of cultural heritage (Bernis-Fonteneau et al. 2023, Juncal et al. 2022). In Imegdal Commune, drought is simplifying diversity across species as households abandon crops that are no longer suitable. Some historically-present diversity that may have been suited to variable conditions (such as greater cereal species diversity) has been abandoned for other reasons, potentially eroding the adaptive capacity of agricultural system in the High Atlas.

Results of this study suggest that farmers may have limited access to varietal diversity that could support adaptation to changing conditions. Farmers reported that all villages plant the same variety of barley. Cereals and legumes can contain high intra-varietal diversity even when there is a small number of classified varieties (Hmimsa and Ater 2008), and more research is needed to determine the extent of inter-varietal diversity in Moroccan barley landraces, where the boundaries between landraces are unclear. The term bldi can be used by Moroccan farmers to refer to multiple morphologically distinct varieties, or a complex of single varieties (Jensen et al. 2013). Genetic work in northern Morocco found that bldi populations have high genetic diversity and low structure, and that each village contained a large proportion of total diversity (Jensen et al. 2013). The single bldi barley “variety” planted by farmers in villages for this study could be highly diverse and suited to local conditions. However, it is also possible that farmers’ limited access to cereal varieties in these villages is limiting the ability of cereal systems to adapt to increasingly dry conditions.

This study also suggests the loss of landrace diversity in vegetable and legume crops. Local landraces of carrots and turnips were completely replaced two to three generations ago with modern varieties available in markets. Some farmers plant bldi varieties of fava beans, peas, and alfalfa, but at least one local variety of fava beans has been lost, and the identity of varieties is not completely clear as some farmers have replaced their seed stock with seed purchased at markets. Farmers described access to limited vegetable varieties at local markets. In the case of potatoes, multiple varieties are available but price is a limiting factor, and farmers described variable quality of available seeds. The rapid erosion of vegetable landrace diversity over the past 30 years has been described in the Souss Massa region (Walters et al. 2018, Walters et al. 2021). Evaluation of melon and watermelon landraces suggested that they contained genetic material of value for coping with increasingly dry conditions (Walters et al. 2021). In villages for this study, the limited varietal diversity that farmers can access for many of their vegetable and legume crops may limit the adaptability of their cropping systems in the face of current changes.

This study also gives some insight into the results of cash tree crop introduction to mountain regions of Morocco, as promoted by national agricultural policy (Ministère de l’Agriculture 2019). Fruit tree crops, especially apple, have been recently introduced in many High Atlas communities, especially at sites with good access to water (Goldberg 2022). In villages for this study, many farmers tried planting apple trees at some point. In all villages, apple trees were unsuccessful as a cash crop due to lack of water, difficulty with marketing, and the financial burden of purchasing inputs such as pesticides. This points to ineffective targeting of agricultural development efforts, and the need to develop locally appropriate interventions.

Livestock Decisions

Households’ decisions about livestock are more directly shaped by migration and labor considerations than decisions within cropping systems, and drought interacts with these factors. Literature about pastoral and agropastoral systems in other regions has looked at the importance of labor in decisions about the role of livestock in livelihood strategies. For example, Berhanu et al. (2007) described the importance of household labor allocation to the balance and economic tradeoffs between livestock, farming, and other livelihood activities. Results suggest migration is closely connected with households’ decisions about whether to keep a goat herd in Imegdal. Because migration of male family members is common, some households sell their herds due to a shortage of labor. It is difficult to separate the effects of labor and drought, as drought may be a contributing factor in decisions to migrate. If there is more than one male family member available for these activities, it can be possible for one household member to herd and another to migrate. Decisions about whether to continue herding are also shaped by the households’ ability to acquire fodder and the quality and proximity of grazing opportunities.

For sheep and cows, stable feeding is the most important consideration. The ability to produce fodder is determined by land and water availability, how much disposable income a household has to purchase fodder (which is in turn determined by off-farm labor, number of livestock, and income earned from crops), and to a lesser extent, how willing / able they are to collect wild fodder plants. Drought has several important impacts:

It decreases the amount of fodder that households can grow on their land (both from crops, and from grass / weeds that grow in and around fields).

It decreases the growth rate of wild fodder plants. Although community members reported that wild fodder plants are very drought resilient, fodder plants have died in some areas. In other areas, decreased growth rates can make it necessary for people to go further to get fodder, as it can take a long time for the plants to regrow with limited rain after all available fodder has been cut.

It can lead to less disposable income (from agriculture and livestock) to purchase fodder when needed. On the other hand, if family members migrate due to drought, it can increase disposable income, allowing purchase of necessary fodder.

Households with livestock tend to purchase as much fodder as they can afford in times of drought, when the price of fodder tends to increase. Households that can afford less fodder spend more time grazing, may purchase more wild fodder, and may feed their livestock less. When these adjustments still are not sufficient, households may be forced to sell livestock, or their livestock may die.

Drought decreases the rate at which livestock reproduce, due to hunger and disease. This decreases the income earned from livestock and can make it less worthwhile for households to keep livestock. During intense periods of drought, the price earned from livestock decreases, but households may be forced to sell their livestock at these low prices if they cannot afford to purchase enough fodder to keep their livestock alive. Disposable income is thus an important factor in how much risk is worthwhile. Households with more disposable income may be willing to accept the risk associated with drought, and they can purchase more fodder to keep livestock alive in times of drought.

Changing High Atlas livestock systems

Livestock are a crucial part of High Atlas systems; they allow the concentration of nutrients from high-elevation rangelands for use on lower-elevation cultivated fields (El Aich 2018). They also allow mitigation of the effects of precipitation variability on livelihoods, as livestock grazing uses the mobility of herds to take advantage of dispersed rangeland resources (Freier et al. 2012). However, the mobility of herds through transhumance is decreasing, and reliance on cultivation and sedentary livestock is increasing across the region (El Aich 2018, El Aayadi et al. 2021). Sedentarization is attributed to drought, socioeconomic change, and land governance changes (El Aich 2018, Barrow and Hicham 2000), and it leads to increased reliance on external resources and agricultural products to feed livestock (El Aich 2018).

In a framework for assessing the sustainability of pastoralist livelihoods in Africa, Ayantunde et al. (2011) identified three important ecological indicators: pasture productivity, livestock productivity, and mobility. When examining these indicators in the context of villages for this study, it is evident that farmers view the ecological viability of livestock systems to be severely undermined. Farmers described dramatic changes in rangeland resources, with much less vegetation in recent years due to drought, which makes it increasingly difficult for goats to thrive. Results of this study suggest a significant decrease in the practice of transhumance. Livestock are one of the main agricultural sources of income in High Atlas communities, and the importance of livestock as a wealth store is common across pastoralist and agropastoralist communities (Ayantunde et al. 2011). This study suggests that High Atlas farmers’ ability to earn income through livestock is rapidly being undermined due to livestock death during drought and the need to purchase increasing amounts of fodder. Income from livestock is being replaced by migration in many households.

Changes in livestock systems directly affect cropping systems because manure is the main source of fertility in farmers’ fields. In most villages, households are still able to get sufficient manure, even with decreasing livestock numbers; this may be due partly do the decrease in summer crop production. Because manure is shared across households, all households have access to manure as long as there are enough households producing excess manure in the village. The free sharing of manure across households reflects the strength of remaining systems of reciprocity. Farmers reported that manure is shared within but not between villages, so the total available manure within each village determines the possibility of maintaining manure-based fertility management practices. The case of Ourti (where not all households are able to get enough manure) suggests that further decreases in livestock numbers could lead to a tipping point where available manure is no longer enough to maintain the fertility of fields, affecting the sustainability of cropping systems. The stronger interest in mineral fertilizers in Ourti, compared to other villages in the study, is likely related to the lower availability of manure.

Migration and shifting livelihood strategies

Discussions of livelihood decisions often focus on rural peoples’ agency in shifting livelihood strategies through diversification in the context of environmental and socioeconomic factors. For example, Turner (2012) describes how Hmong individuals in Vietnam choose how to and how not to incorporate new economic opportunities into their subsistence-based livelihoods. She discusses livelihood diversification, which can occur for many reasons and in different ways (depending on context), as an important way that households and communities form sustainable livelihoods. In a community in Niger, Batterbury (2001) describes migration as an important part of productive bricolage, and it can be pursued for both survival and accumulation. Migration reduces reliance on “the locality and its sporadic rainfall and undercapitalized markets,” allowing people to pursue more effective livelihood challenges in the context of local environmental and socioeconomic challenges (Batterbury 2001). Bebbington (1999) emphasizes the importance of non-agricultural activities in sustainable livelihoods for many people, arguing for the need to focus not just on agriculture in rural livelihoods. He suggests looking at resources that have enabled “sustainable, non-agricultural rural livelihoods.” Hunter et al. (2015) emphasize that migration is one among many strategies for adaptation to environmental change, and that population movement to cope with environmental conditions is a “long-standing adaptive response.”

Migration has long been a part of High Atlas livelihood strategies, but the intensification of migration has resulted in major changes in labor, forms of communality and social cooperation, and livelihood strategies in the region. Bencherifa (1983) described outmigration due to “isolation, low income, and low standard of living,” with seasonal and temporal migration more common in the past than permanent outmigration. Because land is divided with each generation and households have many children, some migration out of the mountains is necessary due to insufficient land (Crawford 2008). However, past literature has emphasized the effects of intensifying migration on labor and the continuity of cultural practices (Soldal et al. 2023). Agoumy and Tamim (2009) studied migration in the Ouneine Valley in Taroudant Province, and they state that migration is “part of a redeployment and livelihood diversification strategy that aims, through opening the valley up to the outside, to bring in other supplementary resources and to include other space in the valley’s socio-economic development,” but they argue that different groups in the population “do not have the same opportunities or abilities to face the constraints of local life.”

Results from this study also highlight the increasing role of migration in meeting households’ economic needs. In focus groups, farmers expressed that young people have no interest in agriculture, and most leave for cities because that is where they can earn money. The majority of households surveyed had access to remittances. As the viability of local agricultural activities decreases, the attractiveness of migration increases in the absence of other local livelihood options. Migration has contributed to changes in cooperation-based agricultural practices. Households rely on remittances to pay for help when they cannot complete work on their own; this has replaced labor exchanges that were used in the past for almost all major agricultural tasks. Research in other regions has found similar interactions between environmental change and socioeconomic factors in shaping migration patterns and household strategies. In communities in northern Ethiopia, Morrissey (2013) found that individuals’ decisions for migration in areas reliant on rainfed agriculture with increasing droughts were shaped by numerous factors, with environmental change interacting with landholding, poverty, education, and migrants’ networks. In Thailand, Entwisle et al. (2017) model how environmental change can change households’ life courses, shaping existing patterns of out-migration and/or return migration.

This study also demonstrates that household migration decisions are individual and dependent on may interlinked factors. The structure of households is important, as is differential access to resources. Crawford (2008) describes the centrality of household structures to labor and consumption in the High Atlas. He emphasizes the hierarchical structure of households, with the patriarch holding power over other members of the household. Crawford (2008) also emphasizes inequality between households, with complex and inflexible rules of inheritance leading to highly unequal land ownership over time. Crawford (2013) describes transformations in a High Atlas village due to “the inventive articulation of the rural subsistence economy with the larger world of wage labor,” describing it as one of several global processes that shape local people’s strategies. He discusses “the way patriarchal authority inspires labour migration and how this migration inadvertently leads to the dissolution of the extended patriarchal household that inspired it.”

Land ownership and division through inheritance is also discussed by Crawford (2013) as a crucial factor in households’ options for accumulating wealth. This has been discussed as well in other regions; for example, in a site in southwestern China, Zinda and Zhang (2018) discuss the importance of household divisions in shaping land and labor constraints, which condition households’ livelihood choices. This study found very unequal land ownership across households in most villages, but it also found that drought is undermining the capacity of cropping systems to contribute to wealth, either directly through sale of agricultural products or indirectly through livestock. Migration and environmental change appear to be intersecting to change patterns of wealth and inequalities in High Atlas communities. Households with the greatest access to remittances now have an advantage over households with large amounts of land or livestock. In villages included in this study, this was evident in the distribution of the relatively few homes made of concrete (a symbol of relative wealth), which had been built by households with access to the most remittances.

Limitations and Applicability

The villages included this study share many livelihood characteristics with other High Atlas communities; the general structure of agropastoral livelihoods and drivers of change described here are common across the region. On the other hand, the following factors are diverse across the High Atlas, and future work should address the effects of change on livelihoods across communities varying in these characteristics:

The villages included in this study have very little rainfed land. This is different in some parts of the High Atlas, where villages may plant large extensions of rainfed land along with irrigated terraces, or may have no irrigation at all. Because of the limited amount of rainfed land and the relatively small average amounts of irrigated land, households in these villages have relatively small landholdings, even given the recognized limitations to land holding size across the High Atlas region (Bencherifa 1983, Paris & Funnell 1999). Future research should consider the differential effects of environmental change in communities relying on irrigated agriculture, rainfed agriculture, and a mix of the two.

Villages surveyed plant only barley as a winter cereal, and reported planting only one variety of barley. Some parts of the High Atlas are reported to have higher diversity of cereal species and varieties (Gault & Saidi 2016; Bernis-Fonteneau et al. 2023). Future research should address the value of cereal diversity for facilitating adaptation in areas with greater diversity.

Some parts of the High Atlas have access to wells, and have more developed water infrastructure; this leads to more reliable water access on irrigated land. Differing livelihood strategies based on differing access to water is an important subject for future research. It is also important for future work to consider the implications of development efforts that increase livelihood options in the short-term but threaten the long-term sustainability of water resources in hydrologically vulnerable regions; this has been studied in oasis systems in southern Morocco (Ilahiane 2001, Santoro 2023) but not in much of the High Atlas region (except for the far southern High Atlas; see Juncal et al. 2022).

In some parts of the High Atlas, apple production (and to some extent other fruit trees, like cherries) has replaced most traditional crops. This has led to dramatic changes in systems and livelihoods (Goldberg 2022). This survey did not include any communities where there has been substantial cash crop introduction. However, it does provide an example of where cash crop introduction has failed due to insufficient water resources and marketing difficulties. Future work should address how fruit tree introduction affects livelihoods and water resources across the High Atlas region.

In some High Atlas communities, tourism contributes to the local economy. Villages surveyed for this work have virtually no tourism. Tourism is widely discussed as a promising development strategy in the High Atlas (Wakass et al. 2023, Bouzekraoui et al. 2018), but its effects on household livelihoods can be complex and it can exacerbate inequality (Parish and Funnell 1999). There is limited work on the role of tourism in household livelihood strategies or its impact on communities (Senil & Julien 2011), an important subject for future work.

Villages surveyed are all located at 1600–1800 and at similar distances to major markets. Systems are diverse across altitudes in the High Atlas region, and future work should consider the impact of altitude as well as road access on livelihood strategies and impacts of change.

This study provides insight into how change is affecting rural livelihoods in four villages in the western High Atlas. It suggests concerning trends in the far-reaching and intensifying impacts of drought. Although climate change interacts with other drivers of change in shaping livelihoods, farmers described drought as a primary factor limiting their cropping choices, their ability to keep livestock, and their ability to pursue other activities such as bee-keeping and collecting wild herbs. Drought is contributing to a dramatic simplification of agricultural systems, and migration is now perceived as necessary for the sustenance of rural communities. Although migration has long been a part of household strategies, its intensification threatens the continuity of cultural practices and landscapes in the High Atlas. Agricultural livelihoods are still central to the villages included in this study; agriculture now provides little income, but it still contributes to household consumption and fodder needs, and there are no substantial alternative livelihood strategies that households can pursue locally. However, the role of agriculture is changing, as local agricultural strategies are increasingly unable to meet households’ needs in the context of environmental change.

On September 8, 2023, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit southern Morocco, with its epicenter in the western High Atlas. All villages included in this study were heavily impacted by the earthquake; relatively few people were killed, but all households lost their homes. The earthquake will likely lead to large shifts in livelihood trajectories, and this is an important subject for future work. By providing insight into households’ perceptions of and responses to change before the earthquake, this study provides important insight into communities’ priorities and challenges before the earthquake. In villages included for this study, farmers pointed to the importance of water infrastructure development and the need for improvement of road infrastructure and education facilities to encourage families to remain in villages. Farmers also pointed to the low prices they receive for products at local markets, and the lack of access to alternative markets. Support for cooperatives, which can allow producers to access new markets and develop new value-added products based on local practices, is one development approach that can support rural livelihoods (Montanari and Bergh 2019, García-Martín et al. 2022). Past development approaches in the region have not effectively integrated local populations into development planning processes (Montanari and Bergh 2014), and there is a need for solutions that reach and support small farmers in remote villages to bridge the divide between small farmers and governmental agricultural strategies. In earthquake affected regions, future research should consider how communities’ priorities have changed after the earthquake, and the extent to which post-earthquake interventions are addressing communities’ priorities.

Batterbury (2001) points to the importance of looking at “the micropolitics of livelihood decision making, since this provides the necessary evidence upon which a scaffold of broader understandings may be based.” He states that “social, economic, and environmental forces work together and overlap” in societies facing difficult livelihood choices. In the High Atlas, this study points to the important impacts of drought on household livelihood decisions, and the interactions between drought and socioeconomic factors. Bebbington (1999) emphasizes that for rural people to improve their livelihoods, they must have access to resources, opportunities to use those resources for livelihood enhancement, ways to enhance the contribution of those resources to their livelihoods, and appropriate networks and links to other actors in the state, market, and civil society (Bebbington 1999). This study suggests the urgency of understanding climate change impacts across the High Atlas region and working towards locally appropriate adaptation strategies, given the difficult livelihood decisions faced by farmers with changes in natural resources. Due to the speed of change in Morocco and the High Atlas region (Schilling et al. 2012), research in this area could provide insight into transitions that will happen in other regions in the future and knowledge relevant to mountain regions globally.

Ethics Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of Cornell University, Protocol #0146196. It was granted exemption from IRB review according to Cornell IRB policy and under the Department of Health and Human Services Code of Federal Regulations 45CFR46.104(d). Informed consent was obtained from all informants involved in the research.

Acknowledgements: We would first like to acknowledge local community members who participated in this research, as well as local authorities in Imegdal Commune. We would also like to acknowledge the essential support of Khadija Ait el Mati, who accompanied the first author throughout all field work, assisted with communication in Tashelhit, and introduced the first author to communities and farmers included in this study. We would also like to thank the full Moroccan Biodiversity and Livelihoods Association (MBLA) and the Global Diversity Foundation (GDF) teams, who assisted with field work logistics and authorization.

Funding: This research was funded primarily through a Boren Fellowship (2022-23). It was also funded in part by a Corliss Knapp Engle Scholarship in Horticulture from the Garden Club of America (2023), a Justin Nolan Ecological Knowledge fellowship from the Society for Ethnobiology (2023), and a Cornell University Graduate Travel Grant (2023).

Author Contributions: A.W., M.A., B.G., O.S.H., A.P., D.R., and A.M. contributed to design of the study. A.W. collected data. A.W. interpreted and analyzed data. A.W. wrote the main manuscript with contributions by M.A., O.S.H., A.P., D.R., and A.M. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rural communes are administrative units; they are subdivisions of provinces.
The first author is proficient in Moroccan Arabic (Darija) and partially proficient in Tashelhit, and translated all results into English while completing the survey.

No competing interests reported.

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Environmental change and rural livelihoods in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco

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Abstract

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Introduction

Methodology

Results

Discussion

Changes in cropping systems: area reduction and simplification of crop diversity

Livestock Decisions

Changing High Atlas livestock systems

Migration and shifting livelihood strategies

Limitations and Applicability

Conclusion

Declarations

References

Footnotes

Additional Declarations

Supplementary Files

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